I think what defines a man, what defines a woman is having bills, [laughs] having bills, having responsibilities, um, and tending to those responsibilities at an adequate level. You know, not just taking care of them to the lowest possible standard. Taking care of those things with decency and, you know, with some type of expertise. A lot of especially my generation, a lot of us tend to think as soon as we’re 18, “Oh, we’re grown.” And that’s not the case. That’s definitely not the case. —Maranda

In this first installment of our “Just Listen” series of one-minute video clips, high school students from NYC iSchool share reflections on how school helps kids become adults. We hope you’ll pass the clips on to others through the networks you use, as well as using them to spark thoughtful conversations in your own setting. To view these video clips full screen, click on the icon with four arrows in the lower right corner of the frame. Transcripts appear at the bottom of this page, followed by links to other parts of this growing collection.

NOTE: Over 200 of these Just Listen clips appear on the Just Listen channel on YouTube. Look on the right-hand side of the screen for playlists dedicated to specific themes: The Teacher-Student Relationship, Becoming Adult, Just-Right Learning Challenges, and many more. (If you want to get a new playlist by email once a week, click here and our Fires in the Mind blog will make that happen!)

Rashaun, 17More things to do in life

Maranda, 16Taking care of yourself

Kyle, 15Setting our own goals

Arielle, 16Pushing your limits

Kenneth, 16Being someone, doing something

Hannah, 16School helps make it happen

TRANSCRIPTS

More things to do in life
What I wanna bring for me, too, from high school, being a junior and, you know, movin’ on, knowin’ that I accomplished a lot, I wanna . . . I want to know that all this work, you put a lot of work into some’n, ’cause I think that’s what graduatin’ from high school represents. I think that represents that when you did a lot of work, you went through all your projects and tests—yeah, you had hard times, but it shows that when you keep work’n at some’n and you’re pushed, that diploma says that you . . . you succeeded. Like, “Congratulations! Here’s your prize.” Like, “You accomplished something. Keep on accomplishing things.” Like, “Don’t give up.” Like, “You got more things to do in life.” So . . . I see it as that. — Rashaun, 17

Taking care of yourself
I think what defines a man, what defines a woman is having bills, [laughs] having bills, having responsibilities, um, and tending to those responsibilities at an adequate level. You know, not just taking care of them to the lowest possible, you know, standard. You know, taking care of those things, you know, with decency and, you know, with some type of expertise. You know, um, I know a lot of especially my generation, a lot of us tend to think as soon as we’re 18, “Oh, we’re grown.” And that’s not the case. That’s definitely not the case. —Maranda, 16

Setting our own goals
In my opinion, the point where someone crosses over from being a minor, an adult, it’s not only just when you become 18 because there . . . like we all know, there are many people like that aren’t considered minors by like the New York State, that are like 19 or maybe even 25 who think very young-minded. I think it’s when you become . . . like when your mind matures to a point where you understand that there are certain things that just aren’t acceptable in life, and that you have to set goals for yourself. And reasonable goals that you know and that you are willing to work hard enough to achieve. —Kyle, 15

Pushing your limits
My teachers . . . like they help me to become something. Like not what they want to become, but like they see what you’re like able to be and they just make it so much bigger. Like if you think you can be something in math & science, they’ll push you to be an engineer. They like just push you to your limits all the time, and if you can go past your limits, they’ll just keep on pushing you. And like it’s not even like too much pushing. They just get you to where you need to be for the future. Like for college I think I’ll be ready. I’m nervous for the process, but . . . I don’t know. I’m excited. Like my school makes me want to do, like, more than what I think I can do. —Arielle, 16

Being someone, doing something
I really hope I just take life from a different perspective. Like I hope . . . I hope I take it thinking about, like, theory behind things. Like how I can relate math to the real world, and how important it is getting a job to being somebody out there. Like I feel like math is my way of being somebody in the world, and being something and doing something, and accomplishing something in life. And I really . . . I really feel passionate about it. And I really hope that it’ll take me somewhere. —Kenneth, 16

School helps make it happen
Because we have such great connections with our teachers, I wanna be able to contact them and tell them how I’m doing with whatever I’m doing in my life out of high school. And . . . I don’t know, I just feel like I’m gonna be bringing all these great experiences along with me in my life. And I’ll always remember them, coming back to high school. —Hannah, 16

“There’s a radical—and wonderful—new idea here… that all children could and should be inventors of their own theories, critics of other people’s ideas, analyzers of evidence, and makers of their own personal marks on the world.”